How to Replace Brick in a Hearth

If your home has a brick fireplace and one or more of the hearth's bricks have come loose, you can replace them without having to hire an expensive contractor. This is a straightforward job that requires no real carpentry or masonry skills to accomplish. The only challenge is to make the new mortar stick to the existing mortar, but this can be done with a simple bonding liquid. Over a weekend, your hearth will look good as new.

Cold chisel
Hammer
Vacuum
Hose attachment
Jug
Bucket
Portland cement
Fine-masonry sand
Trowel
Concrete bonding agent

Instructions

- 1
  Take everything off the hearth such as the fireplace cleaning set and any other decor or belongings that may be on it. Pull out all the loose bricks. If the bricks are loose but still attached, chip away the mortar with a cold chisel and hammer, then pull the bricks out.
- 2
  Vacuum the hearth using a hose attachment to get up all the tiny particles.
- 3
  Fill a jug with water and set aside.
- 4
  Combine 1 part Portland cement with 3 parts fine-masonry sand in a bucket. Mix together with a trowel, then pour water from the jug into the bucket to moisten. Stir with the trowel to make a pancake batter-type consistency.
- 5
  Open and squeeze a tube of concrete bonding agent into the empty spaces on the hearth where you are replacing the bricks.
- 6
  Spread the mortar into the bottom of each empty space with the trowel and set bricks directly on top of the wet mortar. Fill the gaps with mortar thereafter, scraping up excess mortar with your trowel. Let dry for 24 hours before replacing the items on the hearth and/or using your fireplace.

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